Iranians are overjoyed with the news that Asghar Farhadi's film “A Separation” was awarded an Oscar for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards in Hollywood on February 26, 2012. It is the first Iranian film to win an Oscar. Iranian bloggers participated in an outpour of celebration, and some fans also created posters for “A Separation” for different tastes.

Several bloggers such as Faryad Zier Ab and Raze Gole Sorkh have published translations of Farhadi's speech (or excerpts) in Persian. It is a speech that popular American website Slate has described as “the best of the night.”

Farhadi's speech attracted even more attention after Fars News, a semi-official news agency of Iran added their own words to the transcript.

In his speech, Farhadi said:

At this time, many Iranians all over the world are watching us and I imagine them to be very happy. They are happy not just because of an important award or a film or filmmaker, but because at the time when talk of war, intimidation, and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country Iran is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics. I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, a people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment.

It's great to see something human about Iran in a time when our prime minister is adding fuel to the fire with his literally imbecelic comments about how he thinks Iran will not hestitate to use a nuclear bomb if it acquires one. There's no doubt Iran is saddled with an terrible, terrible government--but so are we. I'm ashamed to be Canadian living under so-called leaders like these.

And while I'm ranting, let's not forget that, to date, only one nation in human history has used nuclear weapons against its enemies...and that was the United States.

The islamophobia and now Iranophobia nursed for so long by the mass media has taken deep root in much of North America's right wing. I feel far more threatened by the bigoted blustering on our continent than I do by any posturing—real or imagined—by Iran. The Jews were taking over Europe, right Hitler? And now the Muslims are coming after YOU!